Vanessa Gomez Brake to Receive UU Humanist Person of the Year Award

The Unitarian Universalist Humanist Association is pleased to announce the 2019 recipient of the UUHA Person of the Year Award. This year the UUHA has chosen to award Vanessa Gomez Brake, Associate Dean of Religious Life at the University of Southern California.

Vanessa receives this award with the distinction of being the first Humanist chaplain at an American university to serve as an Associate Dean. As her USC profile details, Vanessa “works to support and promote university religious and spiritual life broadly conceived, and helps oversee more than ninety student religious groups and fifty religious directors on campus.”

The UUHA board has roundly expressed gratitude for Vanessa’s role in higher learning, which reaffirms the value humanism brings to any spiritually and religiously diverse community. Amanda Poppei, President of the UUHA, frames Vanessa’s work and role on even grander terms. “Vanessa's work as the first-ever humanist university religious affairs official highlights the growth of humanism as a core part of America's religious landscape,” Poppei said.

Awarded annually, the UU Humanist Association Person of the Year Award honors individuals whose work affirms, promotes, and advances the ideals of Humanism within the Unitarian Universalist Association or in society at large. It recognizes leadership and effort in promoting values reflected in the UU Humanist Association's Mission.

Vanessa will receive the Person of the Year award at the Unitarian Universalist Humanist Association’s Annual Meeting, which will take place on Friday June 21 at the UUA’s 2019 General Assembly in Spokane, Washington. The UUHA will maintain a presence for the entirety of this year’s General Assembly as well. We encourage you to stay tuned this week for updates about the exciting programming we have planned.

Categories: 
news

Help Us Fulfill Our Vision! A Message from our New President

Dear UU Humanist Members and Friends, 

Happy December!

I'm so honored to be the incoming president of the Unitarian Universalist Humanist Association Board, and I'm excited to share with you a little bit of my vision. But I have to start with thanks‐‐to outgoing president David Breeden, who suggested that I move into this position; to the previous president John Hooper, who recruited me for the Board in the first place; and to all my fellow Board members. You can see their names listed at the bottom of this letter‐‐they represent different parts of the country, they are lay and ordained, they are longtime UU Humanists and new to the movement, and every one of them is fantastic.

And...they are already working to support a vibrant Unitarian Universalist humanism, one that connects with humanists beyond our denomination and also bolsters humanism within. In fact, the Board has raised $4000 in matching funds to enable us to live into our shared vision. We are inviting you, our members, to give toward that vision as well. I hope that together we are able to meet the full match, and add $8000 to our budget this year!

So what is that vision? My hope is that we will, over the next year, engage in meaningful conversations about what humanism is, what it means to be humanist, and who is part of our humanism. We'll be looking for ways to get your answers, and to expand the group of people helping to answer those questions at the Humanist Collaboratory, a gathering of clergy and lead organizers of humanist communities, to be held in March 2019 at the Washington Ethical Society (the congregation I serve). I'm particularly interested in connecting with the voices of women, people of color, and queer folks...people who haven't historically been part of institutional humanist leadership but who are reinventing and reimagining humanism in truly exciting ways, within our movement and beyond.

And of course we'll continue the programs that you already know, like our Freethinker Friendly certification for UU congregations. We are also in in the midst of launching our UUHA Ambassador Program, which will enhance the UUHA’s communication with local UU congregations.

I'm so glad to be on this journey with you. And I hope that you'll be able to give toward our work, so that we can reach further than ever before.

 

Help Us Match our Pledge Here!

 

Toward a shared humanist future,

Amanda

The Rev. Amanda Poppei
Senior Leader
Washington Ethical Society
President
Unitarian Universalist Humanist Association

Categories: 
news

A Message from the President on GA and Board Elections

Dear Unitarian Universalist Humanists:

It was great meeting so many of you at our Black Humanism panel, our booth, and our Annual Meeting at General Assembly. Mandisa Thomas, founder of Black Nonbelievers and our Person of the Year, was an inspiring speaker.

Our General Assembly 2018 session on Black Humanism not only demonstrated the centrality of Humanism in the African American experience, but also the centrality of Black Humanism as Unitarian Universalists strive toward the liberation of all people.

I think that Rev. Dr. William R. Jones will someday soon be recognized as the central UU theologian of the twentieth century. His message harkened back to the deepest commitment of the Humanists who signed the first Humanist Manifesto, dedicating themselves to striving for “a shared life in a shared world.”

Much is happening in the larger humanist world. In March humanist leaders and activists will be gathering for the second Humanist Collaboratory at Washington Ethical Society in Washington, D.C. This gathering will include representatives from Unitarian Universalism, Ethical Culture, and Humanistic Judaism.

Religious Humanism Press, the UUHA imprint, will soon release Religious Humanism: The Good Life Lived in Community by Andy C Reese and Peter A Kandis. This is an excellent introduction of Unitarian Universalist Humanism.

Our commitment to that "shared life" has practical implications in the leadership we choose for the UUHA. We are writing to ask you to approve new officers for the coming year. You will notice that I am stepping away from the presidency and Rev. Amanda Poppei is stepping forward. It is time that our UUHA Board better reflects the rich diversity of UU Humanists.

Here is the Board’s proposed slate for 2018-2019:

  • Rev. Amanda Poppei, President
  • Adam Gonnerman, Vice-President
  • Rev. Dr. David Breeden, Secretary
  • Jim Barnett, Treasurer


At Large

  • James Witker
  • Rev. Heather Christensen
  • Greg Seaman

OPEN

Please send suggestions for possible Board members.

 

UUHA Members may

VOTE ONLINE HERE

 

Rev. Jones distinguished between what he called a “survival theology” and a “liberation theology.”  Dedicated to reason, compassion, and community, Humanism is a theology of freethought and liberation. We carry that message to Unitarian Universalists and the world.

Rev. Dr. David Breeden

P.S: The UUHA exists because of your financial support. Please consider giving.

Categories: 
news

Apply to be a UUHA Ambassador

Dear UU Humanists:

The Unitarian Universalist Humanist Association (UUHA) Board of Directors appreciates the work that you do to promote humanism within your congregation. As the number of non-theists continues to rapidly increase in the US, we believe Unitarian Universalist congregations will thrive in the future only if programs that appeal to humanists, atheists, agnostics and religious naturalists expand. In order to facilitate this, we are initiating a new Ambassador Program.

What We Do

The UUHA board communicates with the UUA to promote humanism in the association.  We also organize a presence at General Assembly with a booth, presentation of the Religious Humanist of the Year Award and our annual meeting. Our publications include the Journal of Religious Humanism and books published by the UUHA Press.  In the coming year, we anticipate having conference calls including humanists in local congregations and UUHA board members to discuss successes and concerns of local groups so that the UUHA board can ascertain the best way to support the local groups.

We Need Your Help

To become more effective in encouraging our congregations to be more welcoming to those who value reason, democracy, science and critical thinking as a guide to living in a congregational setting, we need to communicate more effectively with humanists in our congregations and beyond. We need your voice, your ideas, and your perspective!

What are the roles of the Ambassador?

The goal of the Ambassador program is to identify at least one individual in each UU congregation who will promote knowledge of the activities and publications of the UUHA and encourage fellow UUs to become members of UUHA.  Would you be willing to be our Ambassador in your congregation?  If so, please fill out the application form.  We hope that you are willing to take on this responsibility, but if you cannot, the board would appreciate any nominations for another advocate in your congregation who would be interested in being the UUHA Ambassador. 

If you have any questions or if you would prefer to send a paper copy of your application, please contact Jim Barnett, a member of the UUHA Board of directors. We will also have copies of our application available at our booth at GA.  

Sincerely Yours,

The Unitarian Universalist Humanist Association Board of Directors

Apply online to become a UUHA Ambassador today!

Categories: 
news
Tags: 
Ambassador

Join UU Humanists at UUA General Assembly

UU Humanist Members and Friends:
 
General Assembly 2018 in Kansas City, Missouri (Wednesday, June 20-Sunday, June 24) is going to be big.  Our GA panel—cosponsored with the UU History and Heritage Society—is titled “Black Humanism in Unitarian Universalist Context and Beyond.” That takes place on Thursday, 1:30-2:30:00 pm in the Kansas City Convention Center, room 2502 B.
 
Black Humanism developed within a Unitarian context but spread far beyond. The panel will consider UU ministers Lewis McGee, a 1940s Unitarian minister in South Chicago, and 20th century minister William R. Jones, and how their work continues today. We conclude with a powerful voice of Black Humanism from outside the UU context. Speakers include Rev. Patrice Curtis, Rev. Karen Hutt, Rev. Dr. Nicole Kirk, and Mandisa Thomas. 
 
Please join us for our Annual Meeting and Award Ceremony on Friday June 22, 5:00 – 7:00 pm in the Marriott – Andy Kirk AB.
 
We will be celebrating religious humanism with our keynote speaker and Person of the Year, Mandisa L. Thomas, Founder of Black Nonbelievers. Mandisa has a powerful story to tell about how the Humanism born in the Unitarian and Universalist traditions has radiated far outside the walls of traditional Unitarian Universalism.
 
And don’t miss our booth in the Exhibit Hall, Booth  411.
 
This is going to be big. If you can’t make it to GA, watch our website, Facebook, and Twitter accounts. 
 
Yours in Humanism, 
 

Rev. Dr. David Breeden, President, UU Humanist Association
 
P.S.: Nominations are open for UU Humanist Board positions. Send us names! And expect our ballot by mail after our Annual Meeting at GA. 

Categories: 
news

Pages

Subscribe to Front page feed